Betrayal of a Friend
by YouKnowWhatTheySayAboutHope
Summary: Just a quick one shot about some of Spencer's and Aria's thoughts when the girls discover that Aria was helping A.D.


**For Boris Yeltsin. Thank you so much for your reviews.**

Takes place during 7x18

* * *

"You really have been talking to A.D."

This was the first time Spencer had said anything since the girls had found out that Aria had been helping A. The betrayal laced her voice as the liar lifted her accusing gaze to meet Aria's eyes.

"Spence, A.D. or A has been forcing us to make terrible choices!" Aria shot back, defensively, before any of her other friends had the chance to say something. She really, really couldn't lose Spencer right now. Her breathing became heavier as she looked into Spencer's eyes. The taller brunette opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Aria.

"Do you remember Malcolm? You kidnapped Ezra's kid to get to Toby!"

That was when Spencer burst. "I didn't end up hurting anybody," she screamed. "Because of you, my parents are getting a divorce!" For a split second, Aria thought that Spencer would curl and start to cry. The tears were already brimming in the slightly older girl's eyes. She was wrong; Spencer was stronger than that. "You've ruined ever had!" She continued. "We're done."

Aria's heart fell at her best friend's words.

"We're done and I'm out."

* * *

On the drive back to Ezra's apartment, Aria felt the anger rising in her. What was she supposed to do, _let Ezra go to jail?_ A had been _blackmailing_ her, for god's sake, it wasn't as if she had a choice or anything! Aria hadn't wanted to plant the phone in Spencer's house, and even if she had refused to do so, and let Ezra pay for it, someone else would have.

The petite brunette stopped in front of Ezra's apartment. For a moment, she remained in the car, wallowing in sorrow and self-pity. Of course Spencer was upset. When Aria's parents split up, her friends had been there to comfort and distract her, not to cause the divorce. With a sigh, she opened the car door and stepped out into the cold night. Maybe, she hoped, Spencer would see her side of the story. Maybe she would understand, the way Spencer always understood, and maybe she would forgiver her.

* * *

Spencer hated how soon after their fight she found herself in Ezra's flat. She really wanted to be as far away from the person who broke up her family as possible, yet here she was, on the barstool of Aria's apartment, staring into her friend's green eyes. Even in such a short time without her, Spencer had missed the smaller girl. She had missed their conversations, her laughter, her talk about Ezra, Team Sparia, just everything about their friendship. She wanted, no, _needed_ her best friend back, and more than anything wanted to forgive her.

It would take time, though. Even though A.D. was ultimately the one to break up Peter and Veronica for good, Aria had been the one to commit the deed. But Spencer knew that the sooner she talked to Aria, the sooner she would forgive, and long-lasting tensions between the two was the last thing either of them needed.

Besides, Spencer was not perfect, nor had she ever claimed to be, so she knew very well that Aria was not the only one to blame for the divorce. Perhaps the split was even overdue, considering Peter's actions and lies.

Thinking about that calmed Spencer down by a little, but it didn't make her much less mad at Aria. It hurt; it hurt that the one person Spencer thought she could always trust would actually do something to upset her without a second thought, without doing as much as warning Spencer or hinting at what was to come so that the taller girl could have stopped it.

Speaking to her friend did help. It did help to know that Aria was sorry, that she wouldn't risk their friendship like that again. At least it helped until Tanner came barging in. The betrayal bubbled up in Spencer afresh the second she realised that A.D. had actually created an alibi for Aria to get her out of the trouble that the other liars were buried in, in return for her service to them.

So Spencer did the only thing she felt she could do right now. Grabbing her bag, she stormed out of the apartment, got into her car, and broke down in bottled up tears, knowing all too well that she wouldn't be able to trust anyone for a while.

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 **I agree that the 7B season was really weird. I sometimes wonder what the writers are thinking when I watch the show (not just 7B), but then again, I know I love the characters too much to hold the strange plot against the show.**


End file.
